What to Do Before a Lesson

When planning and preparing for a class, there are some criteria to be considered. This can also be done in writing to make it easier to follow.

Lesson Type: the main focus of the lesson – a system (vocabulary, grammar, or functional language) or a skill (receptive: Listening and Reading or productive: Writing and Speaking)

To master a language, it’s important to work on ALL the systems and skills, however, ONLY ONE AT A TIME.

Aims: Main Aim and Subsidiary Aim(s) for the students + Personal Aim(s)
• Main Aim and Sub Aim(s): by the end of this lesson, students will have learned/practiced …
• Personal Aim(s): if you have previous tutor feedback on suggested areas to work on, you can consider these or analyze them yourself

You can also check a successful lesson checklist here.

Interaction Patterns: who is working with who at each stage of the lesson
• Students: individually (S), pairs/mini-groups/groups (Ss)
• T + S
• T + Ss

Language Analysis: a comprehensive breakdown of the main language presented and practiced in the lesson with examples; analysis of the meaning and form (written and spoken) and how it will be conveyed and checked

Board Work: what you will be writing on the board at different stages

Materials: what you will be using in the lesson (e.g., coursebook, workbook, wordlist/glossary, worksheets; visual aids: presentation slides, images, posters, stickers, flashcards, videos, podcasts, articles, newspaper cuttings, plane tickets, graphs, charts, tables; interactive platforms; realia: tangible objects from real life, hobby materials; audios, quizzes, etc.)

Anticipation of Potential Problems and Solutions: possible problems that might occur in the lesson and may affect the achievement of aims (linguistic or organizational). The solutions should be realistic and effective strategies to tackle these problems if they arise

Class Profile:
• Level: CEFR A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, or C2
• Persona: very young learners, young learners, teenagers, High School students, university students, young working adults, older working adults, or late learners
• Academic Skills and Abilities: pace, adaptability, flexibility, critical and creative thinking, storytelling, teamwork, initiation, processing and analyzing information, following instructions, curiosity, imagination, punctuality, responsibility, persistence, etc.
• Learning Styles: visual, auditory (aural), kinesthetic, etc.
• Types of Learners: extraverted or introverted
• Strengths and Weaknesses: strengths: the ability to learn from mistakes, discipline, planning and time management skills, being a good listener, open-mindedness, socializing, collaboration, etc.; weaknesses: procrastination, stubbornness, impatience, indiscipline, intolerance, aggressiveness, dullness, impoliteness, etc.
• Needs and Interests: personal and professional development, career opportunities/progression, education, traveling abroad, networking, etc.
• Timetable Fit/Assumptions: what the students already know/can do based on previous lessons – the lesson should be challenging enough, not too easy or too difficult (could be content- or language-related)
• Setting (mono- or multi-lingual)
• Class Size (one-on-one, pair, mini-group, or group)

It’s recommended that lesson planning and preparation take no longer than half of the class time (e.g., for a one-hour class, it shouldn’t take more than 30 min).